LOS ANGELES, CA (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — The Russian Nights Festival in Los Angeles presented by Moscow’s Stas Namin Center today unveiled its most impressive and diverse schedule to date. From April 2-8, 2006, the City of Los Angeles will celebrate the rich culture of Russia, past and present, with an exciting new festival program featuring the best from the worlds of film, modern dance, music, theatre and contemporary art.

“Russian Nights 2006” will feature the following events:

Film Festival. Boasting a program comprised of some of Russia’s most interesting new works from 2005/2006, Russian Nights will debut a wide selection of feature films by the country’s top directors including DREAMING OF SPACE (2005, Alexei Uchitel); FIRST ON THE MOON (2005, Alexey Fedorchenko); GARPASTUM (2005, Alexei German-Jr.); REMOTE ACCESS (2004, Svetlana Proskurina). Additional titles and schedule to be announced soon.

As in past years, the stage of the Silver Screen Theater at the Pacific Design Center will be host to the presentation of Russian Nights Tower Awards, recognizing excellence in the world of arts and entertainment. Previous festival recipients include such industry heavyweights as Ray Bradbury, Francis Ford Coppola, Leonardo DiCaprio, William Friedkin, Dustin Hoffman, Nastassja Kinski, Milla Jovovich, Shirley MacLaine, Oliver Stone, Sharon Stone, and others. Tower Award 2006 recipients will be announced soon.

SIRIN, a unique ensemble of Ancient sacred music, will make its North American premiere during the festival. Founded in 1989 by a group of young professional musicians, SIRIN (named after The Bird of Paradise from Russian Christian legends that perform “ineffable songs about saved souls”) is always striving to revive Eastern Orthodox musical traditions and inject new life into ancient Russian hymns. The ensemble’s repertoire includes chants from the early Roman, Serbian, Byzantine and Georgian churches, spiritual verses (an age-old variation of sacred folk music), and contemporary sacred music composed by composer Vladimir Martynov. With its original repertoire and exotic performance style, impeccable vocal quality and professionalism, SIRIN has garnered recognition throughout Eastern and Western Europe.

Founded in 1999, The Moscow Theatre of Music and Drama will present Galt MacDermot’s musical HAIR. A symbol of a hippie generation in the United States, HAIR, which first debuted in 1968, offered audiences a new type of rock musical. Since its premiere, HAIR has sustained well over two thousand performances in numerous countries all over the world. Russian audiences first saw the musical produced by director Bo Crowell with the participation of its Broadway producer Michael Butler in November 1999. The premier has ignited a scandal: the protest against the recently started war in Chechnya was only too obvious.

Internationally renowned tenor saxophonist Igor Butman will lead a quartet in a special jazz concert performance. Unquestionably Russia’s top jazz performer, Butman has appeared with such music legends as Ray Charles, George Benson, Al Jarreau, and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra under the leadership of Wynton Marsalis, to name a few.

The exhibition hall of the Pacific Design Center will host the contemporary art exhibit.

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